North Carolina's Cultural Resources : a survey and report

North Carolina’s
Cultural Resources
a survey and report
All of north carolina’s
cultural institutions
work together to make
the state’s unique cultural
and historical resources
accessible for the
education and enjoyment
of people of all ages
in the state, the nation,
and the world.
2010
T
Institutions
By the time the survey was fi nished, NC ECHO had identifi ed over 950 cultural heritage
institutions and obtained completed surveys from 761 of them, including archives, library special
collections, art museums and art councils, historic house museums, history museums, state
historic sites, and state parks with cultural heritage collections.
NC ECHO partner institutions may vary in type, size, budget, and location, but they are united
in their mission to protect the artifacts and documents that tell the story of our state’s heritage
while allowing users access to the collections.
he NC ECHO needs assessment
survey gathered information from
any institution in the state that fi t
the following description:
Any cultural institution (library,
archive, museum, historic site, or
organization) that maintains a
permanent, non-living collection of
unique materials held for research
and/or exhibit purposes and is open
to the public.
Institutions in North Carolina
Library Special Collections
Archives
State Parks
State Historic Sites
Museums
236
31
10
26
458
Institutions per county in North Carolina
Mountain 155
Piedmont 434
Coastal Plain 172
NC ECHO surveyed 26 state historic
sites like Fort Dobbs State Historic
Site in Statesville, Iredell County
(pictured left). Ft. Dobbs is the
only North Carolina state historic
site associated with the French and
Indian War and the only one located
along the offi cial colonial frontier.
Private library special collections
often hold materials relating to
special topics such as the Bernice
Bienenstock Furniture Library in
High Point, Guilford County (pictured
left), which is a world-renowned
research center for the study of
furniture history and design.
There are 31 archives in North Carolina including the Moravian Archives in Winston-Salem
(pictured above). This archive, started in 1753, is the oldest institution surveyed by NC
ECHO and in fact is one of the oldest archives in the country. It houses more than a million
pages of handwritten manuscripts documenting the history of the Moravian community.
(Photo courtesy of the Moravian Archives).
Nearly every county has at least one public library special collection, usually focusing on local history and genealogy. Watauga County
Public Library in Boone (pictured below left) has the Austin E. South Genealogy Collection with vertical fi les, clipping fi les, published
material, microfi lm, and other sources useful in the study of local history and genealogy in Watauga County and the surrounding region.
Other library special collections are found in academic institutions like Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, Gaston County. Pictured below
right is Donald Beagle, director of the Abbot Vincent Taylor Library, holding a text from the college’s rare book collection.
Ten parks in the State Parks System house cultural heritage collections. Fort Macon State Park in Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, interprets
and preserves the history of the fort structure and its military role from the pre-Civil War era through World War II (pictured above).
Institutions
60%of institutions identified in the NC
ECHO survey are museums. These
institutions care for and make available to
the public more than 13 million artifacts.
104 museums in North Carolina are historic house
museums like the Barker House maintained by the Edenton
Historical Commission in Chowan County (pictured left).
In fact, several of these museums are historic parks with
multiple historic structures like the Denton Farm Park
in Davidson County, a 140-acre park that preserves the
Richmond Reid Plantation House, the Jackson Hill Store
and Post Office, the Jackson Hill Church, and the George E.
Sperling Grist Mill (pictured above).
Museum types
Art Museums and
Arts Councils
Historic House Museums
History Museums
Science Museums
Children’s Museums
68
104
235
43
8
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 5
There are 68 art museums and arts councils
in the state like the North Carolina Pottery
Center in Seagrove, Randolph County
(pictured top left), which promotes public
awareness and appreciation of the history,
heritage, and ongoing tradition of pottery-making
in North Carolina through educational
programs, public services, collection, and
preservation.
The North Carolina Estuarium located along
the Pamlico River in Washington, Beaufort
County (pictured center left), promotes
stewardship in the Albemarle-Pamlico region
through environmental education and nature-based
cultural tourism. This science museum
explores the signifi cance of the estuary
through interactive exhibits including native
living creatures, environmental artworks,
creative audio-visual components, historic
artifacts, K-12 educational programs, games,
and activities, and river excursions aboard the
Estuarium’s pontoon boat.
Few children’s museums maintain permanent
collections of historic artifacts. The
Greensboro Children’s Museum in Guilford
County (pictured bottom left) has special
collections including a model train collection,
Native American artifacts, a stamp collection,
and an assortment of vehicles, including fi re
engines and a NASCAR stock car.
The majority of museums in the state
(51.3%) are history museums. An
abundance of museums exists. Many preserve
and interpret local history. They range from
larger professional museums like the Greensboro
Historical Museum in Guilford County (pictured
below) to smaller volunteer-run institutions like
the Faison Historical Museum in Duplin County
(pictured left).
Institutions
Numerous institutions in North Carolina are dedicated to preserving specifi c
aspects of the state’s cultural heritage, and many museums house amazing
collections that are simply unique and interesting or that serve to document
or elucidate a collector’s particular interest or avocation.
The Cooleemee Textile Heritage Center in Davie County (pictured above) interprets the history of North Carolina’s cotton
mill culture.
The Chicamacomico Lifesaving
Station Historic Site and Museum in
Rodanthe, Dare County, preserves
the history of the fi rst United States
Life-Saving Service station in North
Carolina.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 7
The Greater Fair Bluff Historical Society Depot Museum
in Columbus County is located in the restored 1897 ACL
passenger and freight depot and preserves the history
of the town of Fair Bluff (pictured top left).
The Camden County Jail House Museum in Camden
is located in the restored 1910 Camden County jail
(pictured top right).
The Caswell No. 1 Fire Station Museum in Kinston, Lenoir
County, displays over a hundred years of fi re-fi ghting
artifacts including a 1922 American LaFrance pumper engine.
Wilderness Taxidermy and Outfi tters Museum in Franklin, Macon County, has a taxidermy exhibit and wildlife art
gallery where visitors can view unique specimens from around the world.
During the survey, NC ECHO found 14 jailhouse
museums, 5 taxidermy museums, 11 fi re station
museums, and over 30 depot museums as well as
many other unique and interesting institutions
like the Tuba Exchange in Durham (pictured left).
Antiquities Vending Soda Machine Museum in
Granite Falls, Caldwell County, displays over 1,000
fully restored soda machines (pictured lower left).
Belhaven Memorial Museum in Beaufort County
was started with a collection of 30,000 of “Miss
Eva’s” buttons (pictured below) and includes
artifacts such as Depression Era canned possum
preserves and a fl ea circus.
Institutions
Institutions within the
state are of varied types
including public and
private institutions,
those run by government
or by corporations,
denominational institutions
and academic ones, those
administered by societies,
and those incorporated
into larger parent
institutions that do not
focus on cultural heritage.
Whatever their origin or
administrative structure,
these institutions care for
the state’s historical record.
Bennett Classics Antique Auto Museum in Forest City, Rutherford County, is a private institution started from the personal
antique car collection of brothers Buddy and Joe Bennett.
Tuttle Educational State Forest in Lenoir,
Caldwell County, is a government-run
institution that is designed to teach the
public about the forest environment.
Forest rangers conduct classes and guide
tours especially created for schoolchildren,
who learn about soil, water, wildlife,
timber, and forest management.
The North Carolina State Capitol in
Raleigh is an example of a public
institution. Administered by North
Carolina State Historic Sites, the
Capitol is owned by the people and
is open to all.
Duke Energy Archive in Charlotte preserves the corporate
records of Duke Energy Corporation. The collection includes
many artifacts illustrating the evolution of electrifi cation in
Charlotte and Piedmont North Carolina. As is the case with
many corporate institutions, the archive is open to public
researchers by approved appointment only.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 9
The staff of NC ECHO endeavored
to survey every archives, museum,
library, and historic site in the state—
their collections, their missions, their
challenges—and we got to know
the people behind the institutions
and to understand their inspirations
and aspirations, their hopes and
dreams. Staff have had the pleasure
of meeting myriad individuals whose
passion is preserving and sharing the
story of our state. What an amazing
discovery to learn that so many
people care about history, art, and
science and have worked with loving
hearts and tireless hands to support
and nurture nearly a thousand
organizations dedicated to North
Carolina’s heritage.
Several institutions are denominational and are administered by religious
organizations. The Bhaktivedanta Archives in Sandy Ridge, Stokes
County, is the offi cial repository for the documents,
manuscripts, correspondence, audio recordings,
photographs, fi lms, and other memorabilia of His
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
founder-acarya of the International Society for
Krishna Consciousness.
The Jugtown Pottery Museum in Seagrove, Moore County, is an example of an institution
administered by a parent organization that does not focus on cultural heritage. Jugtown Pottery is
a studio owned by artists Vernon and Pam Owens, who craft pottery for sale in the retail shop. They
created this museum on their property to honor the Jugtown tradition of potters and exhibit a large
collection of original Jugtown pieces.
Historical, genealogical, and preservation societies run
many of the state’s cultural heritage institutions. The
Wayne County Museum in Goldsboro is administered by
the Wayne County Historical Association. Organized in
1955, the Association procured a former U.S.O. building
to house exhibits illustrating the history of Wayne County
and central eastern North Carolina.
Almost all of North Carolina’s academic institutions
have a special collection or university archive. The
Special Collections Research Center at North Carolina
State University in Raleigh holds research and primary
resource materials that focus on areas in which NC State
has made a marked contribution to the development
of the fi eld, such as in plant and forestry genetics and
genomics.
Collections
The Museum of American Cut and Engraved Glass in Highlands, Macon
County, has an accession policy that focuses the museum’s collecting. The
museum exhibits cut and engraved glass primarily from the American
Brilliant Period, 1876-1916.
W hether they
are large or small, ancient
or contemporary, artifacts,
documents, photographs,
audio-visual materials, or historic
structures, the state’s collections
are diverse and interesting. These
collections not only preserve
and document North Carolina’s
material culture but also educate,
enlighten, and even entertain.
The collections tell stories about
North Carolina’s history and culture
and just as frequently reveal the
diversity of its people, regions, and
contemporary culture.
Written acquisition policy
56.3% of institutions indicated
that they have no written acquisition
or collection development policy
that identifies the kinds of materials
the institution accepts and the
conditions or terms that affect these
acquisitions. Several institutions
qualified their responses by stating
that a policy was in progress, the
policy was not written but the
parameters were known, a policy
existed for the parent body but not
for the department, the current policy
was in need of revision, or that the
institution was not actively collecting.
No Acquisition
Policy
56.3%
Acquisition
Policy
43.7%
The Brady C. Jefcoat Museum of Americana in Murfreesboro,
Hertford County, is an institution where the collections are
eclectic and varied but still focused. This museum houses
thousands of items--from phonographs to historic toilets
to washing machines, including one run by a dog-powered
treadmill. Even though the items are diverse, they can all
be classified as supporting the museum’s goal of collecting
Americana artifacts.
Number of institutions holding
types of media
80.0% Paper records
78.4% Photographs
64.4% Artifacts
57.3% Art objects
50.8% Maps
45.3% Videotapes
36.6% Sound recordings
33.1% Architectural drawings
29.0%
26.5%
Micro lm and micro che
Computer media
18.0% Motion picture lm
15.0% Other
57.3% of institutions have art objects in
their collections. These corn husk dolls are part
of the collection at the Museum of North Carolina
Handicrafts in the historic Shelton House in
Waynesville, Haywood County.
36.6% of institutions hold sound recordings in their collections. This collection of instantaneous
discs in the archives at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte documents the Biddle University Quintet,
an a cappella singing group made up of students from this HBCU. The Quartet toured and sang from 1908
to 1926. The songs on these fragile discs have recently been digitized.
Although only 35% of institutions are archives
and library special collections, 80.0% of all
institutions hold paper records. The Charlotte
Museum of History & Hezekiah Alexander Homesite
in Mecklenburg County has a large archival collection
pertaining not only to Hezekiah Alexander and
family but also to the history of the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg area in general.
78.4% of
institutions have
photographs in their
collections, and 61.2% consider photographs one of
their collection strengths. This scrapbook from the
Burgaw Municipal Project includes photographs of the
electrifi cation of Burgaw and is part of the local history
collection at the Pender County Public Library in Burgaw.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 11
Collections
There are 7 million photographs in
North Carolina institutions. This
photograph of the North Carolina
Mutual Glee Club from 1928 is part
of the North Carolina Mutual Life
Insurance Company’s corporate
archives located in Durham. NCM
is the oldest and largest African
American life insurance company
in the United States.
Collections around the
state vary in size from a
handful of artifacts held
in a small public library
to collections that are
the largest of their type
in the world. No matter
the size or scope, each
collection adds to the
state’s rich and diverse
cultural heritage.
200,688,946 linear feet of archival
and special collections material
The North Carolina School of
the Arts Moving Image Archive
in Winston-Salem is the third
largest non-commercial fi lm
archive in the country, with an
extensive collection of feature
fi lms, live action and animated
short fi lms, documentaries,
movie trailers, and newsreels.
The National
Climatic Data
Center in Asheville
is the world’s
largest active
archive of weather data. With fi les dating from the
1700s to the present day, the archive houses 200
million linear feet of records.
Number of artifacts and art objects
11,295,396 Archaeological
512,100 Botanical
361,934 Communication artifacts
40,380 Costumes and textiles
39,074 Decorative arts
28,053 Distribution and
transportation artifacts
72,237 Furnishings
27,330 Geological
11,342 Paintings
5,068 Paleontological
57,645 Personal artifacts
51,296 Prints, drawings, and
graphic arts
7,167 Recreational artifacts
3,357 Sculpture
631 Structures
41,128 Tools and equipment for
communication
51,731 Tools and equipment for
materials
26,300 Tools and equipment for
science and technology
1,221,959 Zoological
13,854,128 TOTAL artifacts and art
objects
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 13
Artifacts range in size from very large items like this Grumman QV-1 Mohawk
airplane from the collection of the Carolinas Aviation Commission and Mu-seum
in Charlotte to the extremely small like this collection of sample of sand
(right) from around the world found at the Wilmington Children’s Museum in
New Hanover County.
There are over 11 million
archaeological objects in the
state’s collections. The majority
of those are found at the Offi ce of
State Archaeology, Archaeological
Research Center in Raleigh. These
artifacts and specimens are
procured from digs all over the
state.
35.7% of institutions have costumes
and textiles in their collections with
more than forty thousand of these
artifacts statewide. These examples of
Quaker clothing are on display at the
Museum of Old Domestic Life located
in 1858 Quaker Meeting House in High
Point, Guilford County.
Collections
e diversity of North Carolina’s people and
history is re ected in the wide variety of collection
strengths found in its cultural heritage institutions.
Collections revolve around topics from the
seemingly obvious to the obscure and almost
everything in between.
68.5% of institutions have a subject strength of local history in archival collections and
35.7% have a strength in genealogy. Historical documents in the Mary Hadley Connor
Leath Local History Room of the Thomas H. Leath Memorial Library in Rockingham, Richmond
County, include a 1799 deed signed by Henry William Harrington, an early Richmond County
land grant recipient, and John Paisley Cameron’s license to practice law.
African American history is a subject
strength for archival collections at
16.5% of institutions. The North
Carolina A&T University Archives in
Greensboro, Guilford County, has a
large Sit-In Collection documenting the
students’ participation in the Civil Rights
Movement in Greensboro.
Subject strengths of archival collections:
16.5% African Americans
19.9% Agriculture
20.8% Arts and architecture
18.5% Business, industry, and
manufacturing
21.3% Civil War
30.2% Education
13.2% Environmental a airs
and natural resources
35.7% Genealogy
5.9% Labor
68.5% Local history
11.4% Medicine and health care
16.3% Military
13.2% Native Americans
13.7% Politics, government,
and law
16.8% Religion
9.7% Science and technology
13.9% Transportation and
communication
13.9% Women
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 15
Subject strengths of artifact and art
collections
15.7% Archaeological
9.8% Ethnographical
18.8% Folk culture
10.5% Audio-visual
35.7% Costumes and textiles
25.4% Decorative arts
35.2% Paintings
61.2% Photographs
29.6% Prints, drawings and
graphic arts
14.7% Sculpture
18.8% Communication artifacts
20.8% Distribution and
transportation artifacts
41.4% Furnishings
18.2% Recreational artifacts
43.2% Structures
42.0% Tools and equipment for
materials
25.9% Tools and equipment for
science and technology
10.4% Botanical
8.6% Geological
5.4% Paleontological
11.9% Zoological
41.4% of institutions listed furnishings as a subject strength for their col-lections.
This photograph from the President James K. Polk State Historic Site in
Pineville, Mecklenburg County, shows how the cabin would have been outfi tted
at the time of Polk’s birth c. 1845.
Distribution and transportation artifacts
are a subject strength for 20.8% of
institutions. The C. Grier Beam Truck
Museum in Cherryville, Gaston County,
preserves the history of the trucking
industry and particularly the Carolina
Freight Carriers Corporation, begun in
1932. The photograph shows the fi rst
truck owned by company founder C. Grier
Beam.
For 43.2% of institutions, a historic structure is part of the collection. This
can be an institution that is housed in a historic building like the Chatham
Historical Museum located in the Chatham County
Courthouse in Pittsboro or a historic site with
ancillary structures like this 1850 slave house at the
Historic Stagville State Historic Site in Durham.
Collections
What is the
predominant
date range
of your
institution’s
collection?
“ “
1.3%
1.0%
2.7%
16.4%
13.0%
65.7%
Prehistoric
Pre-Columbian
1500-1800
19th century
20th century
19-20th century
Number of institutions with photographs by date
Institutions holding
photos by date
370
83
237
Institutions with >50%
of photo collection in
date range
168
397
48
Institutions with 100%
of photo collection in
date range
5
249
7 2 20
74
Before 1870
1870-1910
1910-1950
After 1950
Most photographs post-date1950. This photograph of
three Eagle Scouts from Pitt County was taken in 1962
and is part of the Daily Refl ector Image Collection at East
Carolina University in Greenville. (Image courtesy of ECU,
Daily Refl ector Negative Collection, 741.27.b.34)
Collections around the state range from the very old like this petrifi ed log
from Indonesia at the Mineral and Lapidary Museum of Henderson County in
Hendersonville to much more current items like this pair of shoes belonging
to beloved North Carolina State University basketball coach Jim Valvano in the
collection of the Scotland County Historic Properties Commission in Laurinburg.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 17
The Museum of the Alphabet in Waxhaw, Union County, traces the
history of alphabets and other writing systems from ancient times to
the present. Museum displays chronicle ancient and modern alphabet
makers and feature the history and evolution of written language,
including Greek, Roman, Hebrew, Arabic, and Asian alphabets.
The Penderlea Homestead
Museum in Penderlea,
Pender County, interprets a
restored Depression Era New
Deal subsistence homestead
community. The museum
collects only artifacts within
the narrow time range of the
mid 1930s.
The majority of collections in the state
represent the 19th and 20th centuries. These
spinning and weaving artifacts from the early
19th century are interpreted at the Historic
Carson House in Old Fort, McDowell County.
Collections at the Museum of the
Cherokee Indian in Cherokee,
Swain County, relate the story
of the Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians and range from the pre-historic
to the contemporary.
School groups are an important part of museum and historic site visitation. (Students enjoying an exhibit
at the Hickory Museum of Art, Catawba County).
13,545,926
Annual visitors
& researchers
North Carolina’s citizens make use of their cultural heritage. 97.8% of institutions report that the majority
of their visitors are from within the state. (Visitors to the Mountain Farm Museum in Cherokee, Swain County).
Access to collections
North Carolina’s institutions collect
and care for records and objects
not only to preserve them, but
also so that they may be used and
enjoyed. Annually, over 13 million
people benefit from the activities
of North Carolina’s cultural
heritage institutions. These users
come as tourists seeking local
history and culture, as scholarly
researchers delving into primary
source materials, as genealogists
tracing family lines, as students
experiencing school field trips,
as employees facilitating
institutional operations, or simply
as enthusiasts for the materials
that these institutions preserve.
“
“
Comments from survey
respondents regarding use
of collections How are the collections used?
Genealogy
Local history
Scholarly research publications
Undergraduate classwork
Elementary/high school projects
Property/legal research
Publicity campaigns
Administrative/institutional support
Education/interpretation
Aesthetic appreciation
Other
38.1%
58.3%
31.0%
25.4%
31.0%
9.8%
16.0%
16.0%
44.5%
33.9%
6.7%
Schoolchildren
1,040,418
Correspondence Researchers
210,984
In-Person Researchers
434,287 Exhibit Viewers
11,860,237
• Attendance has dropped because
schools have fewer fi elds trips
• 10,000 visitors at festival in three days
and 1,500 throughout the year
• 3rd most-popular way that people hear
about this site is the road signs!!!
• 4th graders used to do NC notebooks
but not so much anymore
• 50% school groups
• 50,000 visitors came in the museum;
885,000 visitors came to the park
• All of our eff orts are for education/
interpretation and other by-products
such as providing resources for research
• Almost all use relates to genealogical
research
• Because our collections are largely
uncataloged, we do not receive
much use
• Hours have been cut; closed on
weekends for two years
• In summer 26-50% come from outside
NC; winter 11-25%
• Increase in use since digitization project
has been up
• Museum open for two festivals per
year only
• Ongoing debate over entertainment
vs. education
• Patrons need better access to these
materials; electronic format with
keyword searching would be
invaluable
• It is diffi cult to work with schools
and hard to arrange fi eld trips to
the museum
• Required 8th-grade fi eld trip for the
county
• Very infrequent public use of archives
due to limited scope of collection and
requirement that research be scholarly
and original
• Visitation is down because educator is
gone; hope visitation will go up so we
can hire a new educator
• Visitation will increase dramatically
since we have recently opened regular
hours and have a permanent home
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 19
Providing access to collections is possible through the
maintenance of intellectual control and by employing
discovery mechanisms that make it possible to locate the
items and information about them.
97.1% of institutions have some degree of intellectual
control over at least a portion of their collections.
However, NC ECHO observed, and many institutions
expressed, that very few have discovery mechanisms in place for their
entire collections and that processing backlogs prevent them from
making all of their materials accessible.
The lack of fi nding aids, catalogs and other access tools is the largest
impediment to use of the state’s collections. NC ECHO staff visited a
library special collection where the librarian could not locate a 16th-century
manuscript from the rare book collection. This was probably
due to misfi ling, but no one could be sure since there are no fi nding
aids, shelf lists, or inventories of the rare book holdings.
Access To Collections
of institutions have some degree of 97.1% Nearly all institutions have some intellectual control
over their collections. This control ranges from
rudimentary handwritten inventories and shelf lists to
old-style card catalogs to fully automated collections
management systems and online fi nding aids.
Impediments to the use of collections
15.4%
10.9%
4.1%
Can’t physically locate
Lack of nding aids
Necessary equipment not available
Records deteriorated beyond use
Processing backlogs
37.2%
36.3%
Discovery mechanisms used by institutions
29.4%
37.9%
9.3%
42.9%
50.7%
28.8%
Card catalog
Collection inventory
Typewritten register
Printed guide
Online public access catalog
Website
of intellectual control over at least a portion of their collections.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 21
Nursing collection
Waldensian story
Furniture manufacturing collection
Traditional African art
Family histories
Sit-ins
Siamese twins collection
College catalogs/yearbooks
Dolls
Military costumes
Gourds
Government statutes
Historic railroad equipment
Institutional archives
Quaker meeting records
Rocks and minerals
Shipwreck fi les
Masks
Turtle stuff
Diorama, beehive
Fred the fi re horse
Jars, buttons, fl eas, farm implements
Oz theme-park collection
Access To Collections
A false bottom wagon used by Quakers at Mendenhall Plantation in Guilford County to transport escaping slaves
on the Underground Railroad.
Which of your speci c collections
15 get the most use? 15 institutions reported no written catalog of
records/objects and that the institution relied
solely on sta memory to locate collections.
While this is a tiny portion of all the institutions surveyed,
it is still troubling since these collections are at risk of
being misplaced or becoming unidentifi able after current
staff leave. During one of NC ECHO’s earliest site visits,
staff asked the local history volunteer how items in the collection were organized and cataloged.
She responded, “I’ve got it all in my head”.
“
“
Florence Nightingale letters
1901 coin-operated electricity meter
Fire truck
False-bottom wagon
Parisian living room wallpaper
Barber chair
Race car
Snow globes
Iron lung
Soda machines
Corn sheller
Saddam Hussein’s gold weapons
Grist mill
Environmental justice collection
Rock house
Oral histories
Arial/topographic maps
Motion pictures
Decline of black farming collection
Digitized info on web
Newspapers
Cherokee river cane baskets
Cotton and textile exhibit
Highland games collection
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 23
Through a partnership between the North Carolina
State Archives, the Outer Banks History Center, and the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, over 1,500
historic North Carolina maps are being digitized. This
project will allow users to interact with the maps in new
ways in the online environment.
Th e growth of the internet has brought
increased expectations for online access
to collections. While viewing materials
online does not replace seeing them
in person, digitization is becoming an
important tool for cultural heritage
institutions interested in serving a wider
audience.
North Carolina’s cultural institutions
have produced many strong individual
digitization projects, and some institutions
have successfully integrated digital
programs into their missions and budgets.
Survey fi ndings, however, reveal that the
majority of North Carolina’s institutions
have not yet undertaken digitization
projects. No more than 26.0% of
institutions responded to the digitization-related
questions of the survey, suggesting
that three-fourths of all institutions are not
active in digitization.
In-house digitization 90.5%
Outsourced digitization 9.5%
Documentation of digitization eff orts?
Yes 45.9% No 54.1%
Maintain separate digital master fi les and access fi les?
Yes 56.4% No 43.6%
Do the digital fi les follow a standard description
model such as Dublin Core?
Yes 31.9% No 39.9% Don’t know 28.3%
Formats for digital fi le storage
CD-ROM 72.5% Portable drive 14.4%
Hard drive 66.9% Other 25.0%
Meredith College
completed a unique
digitization project that
increased access to over a
hundred years of Meredith
history through 360-
degree-rotation digital
camera capture of the
beloved class dolls.
N
Staff and volunteers
Helen Wykle is the special collections librarian at the University of North Carolina
Asheville’s D. H. Ramsey Library. The Special Collections and University Archives is only one
department in the large academic library. This is the case for several institutions where
care of cultural heritage collections is not the main mission of the parent institution.
e NC ECHO survey identi ed some institutions
with full professional sta s, but found many more
organizations run by a single paid sta member.
Sometimes that sta member is assisted by
volunteers, but, especially in archives and library
special collections, he or she may operate without
any help. For local history museums and archives,
the survey found that sta often consists solely of
volunteers. Regardless of their status, these cultural
caretakers look after the state’s collections and
create environments where visitors and researchers
can enjoy and appreciate the history and culture of
North Carolina.
orth Carolina’s cultural heritage
institutions would not exist were it
not for the eff ort and dedication of
more than 15,000 people who serve
the state’s institutions as paid career
professionals and support staff ,
volunteers, student workers, interns,
and in other capacities.
Appraisal, collection development 48.0%
Electronic records management 32.2%
Curatorial methods 50.7%
Disaster preparedness 50.9%
Public relations, outreach 47.2%
Copyright 35.6%
Programming 37.2%
Other 5.9%
Exhibit creation 46.1%
Database management 51.3%
Digital imaging 57.2%
Fundraising, grant writing 63.1%
Archival methods 63.5%
Bill Brown, Safety Director at Broughton Hospital in Morganton, Burke Preservation, conservation methods 67.4%
County, is a third-generation employee of the state psychiatric facility. Bill is
concerned that the history of this organization will be lost. Although not part
of his offi cial responsibilities, Bill rescues items like this patient wheelchair
from state surplus and creates exhibits in the
administration building lobby in an eff ort to
preserve the history of the hospital.
Becky Gri n is the part-time Executive Director of
the Mint Hill Historical Society’s Carl J. McEwen Historical
Village in Mecklenburg County. She and her volunteer staff
have worked to preserve the rural history of the town of
Mint Hill through
restoring several
buildings including
a country doctor’s
offi ce, country store,
and schoolhouse.
Areas of training needed for sta and volunteers
3,206.12 Full time equivalent workers in
North Carolina’s institutions
Student Workers
5.1% Interns
2.9%
Paid Non-Professionals/
Support Staff
15.5%
Other
1.1%
Volunteers
40.8%
Paid
Professionals
34.6%
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 25
47 Processing collections
36 Archivist
36 Cataloger
36 Education or outreach
35 Curator
31 Administrative or o ce
manager
24 Jack-of-all-trades
22 Clerical work or secretary
19 Collection management
18 Librarian
16 Conservation or
preservation
16 Digitization
16 Fundraising
15 Custodial or maintenance
13 Public relations or
marketing
11 Tour guide
10 Website management or IT
9 Registrar
7 No help needed
7 Volunteer coordinator
6 Database management
5 Grant writing
2 Reference
2 Security
Staff and Volunteers
Almost all institutions indicated a need for increased sta
or volunteers. In many institutions, one person undertakes
multiple responsibilities. When asked what primary duty
would be assigned to a new sta member, one institution
responded, “We don’t have enough sta to assign anyone
a primary duty.” Yet being short-sta ed does not stop
institutions from branching out to reach their audiences.
As Sharon Snow of Wake Forest University’s Special
Collections told NC ECHO on a site visit,
“We’ve got our ngers in a lot of pies, but it’s good pie.”
Many volunteer-run museums and archives expressed concern that volunteers are mostly
retirees. One institution told NC ECHO that the most needed addition to the museum was
“a younger person to learn the collection.” (Ms. Sarah Grissop volunteers her time at the
Brevard Station Museum in Gaston County.)
Administrative or
office manager
Archivist C A T A L O G E R
Clerical work or
secretary
COLLECTION
MANAGEMENT
Conser vation
or preservation
Curator
Custodial or maintenance
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
DIGITIZATION
Education or outreach
Fundraising
Grant
writing
Librarian
Processing collections
Public relations
or marketing
Tour
guide
Reference
Website management or IT
VOLUNTEER
COORDINATOR
Security
NO HE L P N E E D E D
J a c k - o f - a l l t r a d e s
“If you could add
one employee,
what would be
that person’s
primary duty or
responsibility?”
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 27
Paid Professional Sta
(full-time-equivalents)
15.2%
41.3%
13.2%
35.8%
Zero
Less than one
More than one
More than four
State Historic Sites
502
State Parks
1081
Library Special
Collections
1,892
Archives
217
15,681 employees
and volunteers in
North Carolina’s cultural
heritage institutions
Museums
11,999
Volunteers are essential
to the workforce of many
institutions, and in fact,
25.7% of institutions have
no professional employees and
are staff ed solely by volunteers.
(Carl Moore is a volunteer at the
Old County Jail Museum in Clay
County).
13.2% of institutions employ more than four full-time-equivalent paid
professional staff . Staff in the Mammals Unit of the Research and Collections
Section of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences includes curator Lisa
Gartens, collection technician Levi Vargas, and collection manager Benjamin Hess.
Photo: Steve Exum.
Collections care
T he NC ECHO survey shows that
the majority of holdings within
North Carolina’s cultural heritage
institutions are in good physical
condition. North Carolina is
fortunate that this is the case,
because relatively few of North
Carolina’s institutions have the
tools and facilities at their disposal
to ensure collection longevity. To
keep materials from deteriorating,
institutions must be able to
properly monitor and control
collection storage environments
and plan ahead for disasters both
natural and manmade.
The collections in the best condition are those
stored and exhibited in proper housing containers in
environmentally controlled spaces. UNC Charlotte’s
University Archives (pictured above) uses acid­free
folders
in archival boxes along with temperature and humidity
controls to prevent deterioration of the documents. The
Southern Highland Craft Guild in Asheville (pictured
below) stores the handmade crafts collections in museum
storage drawers with While most institutions report that their collections are generally microfoam lining.
in good condition, almost all institutions have some items in
their collections that are in need of conservation. This is
due both to a lack of funding for preservation
and to a lack of expertise, particularly in the smaller
and volunteer­run
institutions.
Archival materials
General condition of collections
Objects
Good
Photographs
Good Fair Poor
0.8%
80.6%
18.6%
Good Fair Poor
0.6%
76.0%
23.4%
Fair Poor
1.1%
79.1%
19.9%
No Trained
Conservator
86.4%
Trained
Conservator
13.6%
Are you speci cally
concerned with any portion
of your collection?
“
“
• Two staff conservators specialize in textiles
and costumes and work on the collection
• The museum is emerging from an all­volunteer
staff to a paid professional staff ,
and in that process, the collections are
improving as are the conditions in which
they are stored and exhibited
• The North Carolina Museum of Art conducted
a survey of the portrait collection and did
on­site
conservation
• Some archival materials are in poor shape
and are housed in non­archival
boxes
• Materials are often kept in the condition in
which they are received
• Collections were restored and stabilized after
the fl ood
• Most objects in our collection were damaged
in a fi re in 1998. 800 items were in the
collection and 200 were destroyed.
Remaining items have been professionally
restored and returned to the collection
• Some heat lamination of documents
• The photographs in the collection need acid
free folders or Mylar sleeves
• The books are brittle with some spines torn
and broken but intact
• Collections worn but generally in good
condition
• Condition is a consideration for acquisition
• Do not have budget, knowledge, or time to
provide professional long­term
preservation
• Collections vary in condition, and
the museum has conducted a general
preservation survey to establish
conservation priorities
• Textile and fabric collection is in stages
of decay
• Recent addition of a heat and air system will
help stabilize condition of collections and
stop deterioration of exhibits
•Some items are hard to identify because of
their condition
• Most objects given to us come from local
families who have kept them in good
condition. A dry building and loving
attention keeps them that way
• Some exhibited documents and archival
items are yellowing due to light exposure
• Some stuff is becoming moldy as
environmental controls are lacking
• Have had fl ooding from the hurricanes and
have had to move collections twice
• Condition is better than expected given lack
of basic preservation over the years
A small percentage (13.6%) of institutions are able to retain a professionally trained conservator on
staff like this textiles conservator at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh. Yet even without
an in­house
conservator, more than a fourth of institutions undertook some form of preservation
measures in the year before the survey.
*Includes preservation photocopying, encapsulation, facility repairs,
rehousing, reformatting, upgrade to security system, etc.
Conservation and
preservation measures
undertaken in the year
preceeding the survey
25.4%
31.6%
25.1%
33.7%
7.5%
29.6%
Micro lming
Book rebinding
Document conservation
Object conservation
Disaster recovery
Environmental control upgrade
*Other 14.9%
Some institutions, like the Louise Wells
Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington pictured
above left, have resources to properly store
collections. Other institutions deal with less
than ideal conditions.
This archive pictured above right is subject to
water leaks because of its basement location.
This history museum pictured left has to keep
collections in plastic bins to combat poor
environmental conditions in the outbuilding
used for storage.
Collections are often
stored in structures or
housed in containers that
are inadequate. Providing
stable environments for
old or fragile materials
is impossible for some
institutions given their
nancial circumstances and
other inhibiting factors.
59.8% of institutions
consider their storage space
inadequate and 18.5%
consider lack of exhibit
and storage space as the
institution’s most pressing
problem.
1,728,724 total square feet of
storage space at institutions statewide
Q: Where do
institutions store
collections?
Collections Care
A: 42.9% O ce area
35.4% Stack area
48.1% Storage room
9.4% Warehouse
63.6% On exhibit
34.7% Attic, basement,
closet
• Storage space is overcrowded and improperly
arranged. The area is a ected by heat and cold
changes and mold problems
• Need a bigger space for less money
• Facilities are small and cramped
• Most archival material is stored in a private home
right now
• Available facilities are adequate for our
larger exhibits of railroad equipment, cars. and
locomotives but we do lack adequate space for
small items and paper goods
• Environmental monitoring systems are
outdated, and we want to upgrade to a digital
tracking system
“
“
• Main storage has no heat or humidity controls
• None of the historic buildings have
climate controls
• Facility was not designed to be a museum
• Lack of adequate proper storage is a
problem that makes it hard to properly process
and preserve records and virtually impossible
to implement a sound records
management program
• Excellent modern facility
• Most archival materials are stored in the
basement. There is too much moisture, and the
humidi er is of limited help. The basement is
subject to ooding, and mold is growing on
some materials
• All our historic structures have new humidity
and climate controls
• Overloaded shelves. There was no eye to the
future when the room was designed
• There is no space in the current building for
expansion of collections, which remain small
• No smoke detectors!
• Big windows expose exhibit items to lots of
natural light, but replacement windows are
being systematically installed
The survey found 82 institutions like the Northern Wayne Heritage Museum in Wayne County that store
100% of their collections on exhibit due to a lack of storage space. This situation is not ideal since
collections benefi t from rotating into storage where they are, at least theoretically, in a more
protected environment.
Storage space
59.8% of institutions report inadequate storage space
12.7% indicate that storage space is already full and another 29.5% will
reach capacity within one year
20.4% have less than 500 square feet of available storage
75.4% have no o ­site
storage
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 31
Comments about
storage of collections
Collections Care
Some deterioration of collection
materials is inevitable, but loss
can be controlled. While many
institutions have environmental
controls in place for the
collections on exhibit or in the
stacks, these protections do not
always extend to collections
housed in alternative storage
locations such as attics,
basements, outbuildings, and
even bathrooms. Only 7.5%
of institutions have 100% of
their collections protected
with year-round temperature
controls, year-round humidity
controls, re detectors, a re
suppression system, a security
system, air lters, and UV lters.
Alarmingly, 13.7% reported
that none of their collections
are protected with any of these
environmental controls.
Archives Library Special
Collections
Museums State Historic
Sites
No year-round
temperature controls
16.1% 15.4% 29.4% 29.2%
No year-round
humidity controls
45.2% 59.4% 67.8% 70.8%
No re detection 25.8% 26.1% 33.1% 20.8%
No re suppression 83.7% 74.4% 70.6% 75.0%
No security system 25.8% 30.8% 32.6% 41.7%
No air ltration 25.8% 24.4% 35.4% 41.7%
No UV lters 12.9% 24.4% 29.7% 29.2%
Institutions with NO environmental controls
68.4% of institutions have no security systems in place to prevent theft and vandalism
of collections. In response to a series of thefts, the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh
added a video recording security system to monitor areas where collections are used.
Q:
A:
76.0% Year­round
temperature controls
35.6% Year­round
humidity controls
70.2% Fire detection
29.2% Fire suppression
68.4% Security systems
68.7% Air ltration
72.9% UV lters
What percentage
of institutions
surveyed use
the following
environmental
controls to protect
a portion of their
collections?
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 33
Comments about
environmental storage
conditions of collections
“ • Sprinkler system has taken all
the money
• Main storage has no heat or
humidity controls
• Minimal climate controls; systems
in place operate marginally
• Need extermination
• None of historic buildings have
climate controls
• No smoke detectors!
• Problems with leaky air conditioner
in the photo area
• Environmental monitoring systems
are outdated; want to upgrade
to digital tracking system
• Need humidity control; need to
circulate the air
• Fire extinguishers are available, but
there is no fi re suppression system
• All historic structures have humidity
and climate control
• Currently we badly need a year­round
humidity control
• There are a few items in uncontrolled
environments in the historic buildings
• Humidity/temp control is the original
system from 1967
• Storage facility has no heat/humidity
control, no smoke alarm or sprinkler,
and no security system
• House is in a 10­mile
radius of the
Nuclear Plant and is under that
disaster plan
• Grant application is currently under
review to provide more protection
from light
• Big windows expose exhibits to lots
of natural light, and many photos
are at risk, but replacement
windows are presently being installed
More than a fourth of all institutions (29.8%) have no fi re detection system in
place, and 70.8% have no equipment installed for fi re suppression. This situation
can end tragically as it did in 2008 when the Frank T. Williams Railroad Museum at
Tweetsie Railroad Park burned completely, destroying a collection of artifacts of
North Carolina’s beloved singing cowboy, Fred Kirby.
It is imperative to sustain acceptable levels for temperature and humidity in collection
storage environments to maintain the health of the collections. Institutions face
increased diffi culty because collections of varied media types require diff erent
conditions. Nearly a quarter of all institutions (24.0%)
have no year­round
temperature controls, and 64.4%
have no year­round
humidity controls. In environments
where temperature and humidity levels are allowed to
fl uctuate, collections risk outbreaks of mold and mildew.
“
Collections Care
Collections loss is unfortunate
whether it comes from preventable
events, like humidity-related mold
breakouts, or catastrophic events, such
as the ooding in Princeville after
Hurricane Floyd. Both types of loss
can be mitigated when an institution
implements a preservation plan that
includes installation of environmental
controls and a disaster preparedness
and recovery plan.
28.9% of institutions reported some kind
of loss of collections within the last year
No
Disaster Plan
72.2%
Disaster
Plan
Collection loss in the 27.3%
last three years
7.0%
15.9%
10.2%
1.3%
3.3%
Water
Fire
eft
Mis les
Other
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 35
In July 1998, re crews responded to
an early-morning re at the omas
Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site in
Asheville. Sta from the Wolfe House,
along with volunteers from the sta at
the neighboring Biltmore Estate and
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic
Site, arrived at the scene to nd the house
nearly fully engulfed. ese disaster
response workers set up a triage area
behind the house to catalog artifacts
rescued from the re and assess their
condition. e contents of the dining
room and several pieces of furniture in an
upstairs bedroom were destroyed in the
re, and objects throughout the house were
Implementing a disaster preparedness and
recovery plan is a critical but often
neglected step in collection care.
72.7%
of institutions have no
written disaster plan, although
61.8% list disaster plan
development as a priority for the
institution. 7.5% of institutions
responded to a disaster on some
scale during the year before the survey.
damaged by the smoke, water and intense
heat. Later, sta determined that the arson
re had destroyed 30% of the original
structure and 15% of the artifact collection.
Site sta , working with restoration
architects, took this unfortunate incident
and turned it into an opportunity to undo
modernization changes and updates made
to the house and to restore it to the way
it looked in 1916, the year omas Wolfe
left home for college. e house reopened
in May 2004 with new smoke alarms and
a sprinkler system, which hopefully will
prevent another disaster of this kind.
Although the NC State Historic Sites
program did not have formal disaster
plans prior to this re, it did emphasize
the need for such plans. Today, each site
in the system has a formal, site-speci c
Emergency Preparedness, Evacuation,
and Response Plan. In addition, the
division has purchased a trailer and is
out tting it with supplies and equipment
in preparation for future disasters.
From Out of the Ashes
omas Wolfe Memorial Fire Story
Resources
The needs and priorities of the state’s institutions are
diverse, ranging from improved storage conditions like
this compact shelving at the Johnston County Heritage
Center in Smithfi eld, to better
preservation of collections such
as document encapsulation seen
here at the Cape Hatteras National
Seashore in Manteo, Dare County.
Budget over the
last 3 years
Decreased
29.1%
Remained Stable
45.3%
Increased
25.6%
Inadequate funding is a
challenge facing institutions
in every budget range, but
especially for those with the
smallest income. More than a
third of all institutions (35.7%)
operate on a budget of less than
$10,000 and 12.5% get by on a
shoestring of less than $1,000.
Only 17.1% of institutions
receive an annual budget of
more than $250,000. And while
many needs of institutions go
unmet due to funding shortfalls,
sta and volunteers still work
toward their missions of
providing care for and access to
the state’s collections.
Institution
Budget
12.5%
17.9%
11.2%
23.2%
18.2%
17.1%
$0-$1,000
$1,000-$10,000
$10,000-$50,000
$50,000-$100,000
$100,000-$250,000
$250,000+
Most pressing
problems
Insu cient funding/budget 41.5%
Inadequate professional
sta ng 23.8%
Lack of exhibit/storage space 18.5%
Increasing public/
government awareness 10.4%
Aging/inadequate
physical facility 9.8%
Processing backlog 9.7%
Conservation/preservation 7.8%
Not enough volunteer sta ng 5.5%
Security of collection 3.3%
No pressing problem 2.8%
Collection development 2.6%
Digitization 1.4%
Caring for North Carolina’s cultural
heritage collections requires an
ongoing commitment of resources
from institutions. The three most
pressing problems confronting
institutions are inadequacies
in funding, lack of professional
staffi ng, and insuffi cient exhibit
and storage space. In addition
to these issues, institutions
indicated several other priorities
for improvement, such as
encouraging use of collections,
preserving collections, improving
staff training, and developing
disaster plans. Lack of funding
is the biggest obstacle for many
institutions, and increased and
sustained fi nancial support could
help mitigate many of the other
problems as well.
What is the most pressing
problem confronting your
institution?
“
“
• Consistent funding
• Volunteers! Volunteers! Volunteers !
• Temporary location
• Backlog of collections and lack of
staff to catch up
• Space or staffi ng - a toss-up
• Money; continuing decreases
in funding!
• Cataloging the backlog of materials;
environmental controls for
storage areas; fi lm storage
• Aging physical facility, funding, and
capital needs
• Lack of paid staff
• Collection is peripheral to library mission
• Funding to remain open year-round
• Space; better leadership
• Environmental controls
• Taxes
• Getting schoolchildren to visit
• What will happen to the collection when
Ruthie can no longer oversee it!
• Chronic reduction of funding; lack of local
governmental support
• Clarifying the mission; putting more
emphasis on education and interpretation
• Collection development
• Funding long-term; making the museum
self-perpetuating; publicity
• Electronic records; born digital documents
• Need for publicity; more exposure
• Appealing to the next generation of
volunteers and supporters while getting
children interested
• Handicap accessibility and safety concerns
• Low visitation
• Lack of expertise
• Making it secure and accessible—rare
items are so secure they are not accessible
• Need new building
• Preservation of collection
• Lack of funding from State budget; lots of
turnover because of low salaries.
• The number of active volunteers continues
to get smaller over time
• Just too much work; need time to do
everything.
• Money, but really cataloging backlog!
• Having enough core personnel to
accomplish the work that needs to
be done
Budget expectations
in the next 3 years
Decreased
16%
Remained Stable
49.1%
Increased
35%
92.1% of institutions indicated
a priority to increase funding, with
41.5% listing inadequate funding as
the institution’s most pressing problem.
Needs and
priorities
Increase funding 92.1%
Raise awareness and
use of collections 81.3%
Boost sta­ training 81.1%
Preservation of collections 79.5%
Increase storage capacity 75.8%
Improve storage conditions 71.5%
Improve nding aids 71.5%
Develop disaster plan 61.2%
Increase solicitation of collections 59.3%
Increase exhibit space 56.6%
Process backlog 55.4%
Automate description systems 54.2%
Reformat collection 48.5%
Develop acquisitions policy 45.1%
Develop policies for new media 40.4%
• Scrambling for funds
• We cannot continue to operate entirely on
membership funds. We need a new computer
and digitizing system, archival supplies, a
security system—and those are just the
top priorities
• Admissions all go to child abuse prevention
charity
• Endowment covers all necessary costs
• No line item for special collections; anything
for special collections is purchased from
‘supply line’
• [Corporation] provides all funding
Resources
Funding sources for institutions
54.1% Receive private donations
51.4% Receive regular government
appropriations
28.8% Undertake fundraising activities
25.3% Collect membership dues
20.6% Receive government grants
20.4% Receive private grants
17.3% Receive private endowments
17.1% Charge admission fees
What are some observations
regarding funding?
“
“
• It’s hard to plan when you never know what
your share of the budget is
• [Museum founder] pays for everything
• Find funding by any means necessary
• Initial money came from city, county, and
individuals; continuation budget will be
reliant on individual donations
• No budget
• Need more grants. Exhibit and sta salary
monies are needed. Town, county, and
tourism grants are 99% of the museum’s
operating budget
• Our big givers have died and are not being
replaced; we are considering our cash assets
as ‘endowments’ and use interest only
when needed
Very few institutions
receive all their
funding from a single
source, instead nding
multiple ways to raise
nancial support. e
two most prevalent
means of funding are
private donations and
regular government
appropriations, with a
much larger percentage
of monies coming
from government
appropriations. For most
institutions, less than
25% of their funding
comes from grants,
fundraising, admission
fees, membership dues,
or private endowments.
An increase in support
from these funding
sources would bene t the
institutions.
Funding sources vary with the scope
and mission of the institution. The
North Carolina Baseball Museum in
Wilson gets 75% of its funds from
private donations and 25% from
fundraising. No government monies or
grant monies are used. The museum
Money is essential
to running a
successful cultural
heritage institution,
yet 82.9%
of institutions
do not charge
admission.
Although
these fees are an obvious means of bringing
in money, many institutions prefer to provide
free access to the collections to broaden their
accessibility to the public.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 39
Only 28.8% of institutions
participate in fundraising
activities. Each May, the Ole
Gilliam Mill Park in Sanford,
Lee County, holds the Old Mill
Crank Up. This fundraising
event includes living history
interpreters, a pottery kiln fi ring,
bluegrass performers, and a
chance to see the grist mill
in action.
Percentage of funding from regular
government appropriation
48.6%
3.6%
5.0%
10.3%
19.4%
13.1%
0%
1-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-88%
89%-99%
Percentage of funding from
private donations
45.9%
8.0%
3.8%
34.5%
4.2%
4.2%
0%
1-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-88%
89%-99%
Percentage of funding from government
and private grants
79.5%
2.6%
0.1%
16.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0%
1-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-88%
89%-99%
board felt that it was important to
raise its own money from the local
community and baseball enthusiasts.
In contrast, there are institutions like
the North Carolina State
Archives in Raleigh, a government-mandated
records repository that
receives 98% of its funding from
regular government appropriations
with the remaining 2% coming from
government grant funding and private
donations and endowments.
2,500 copies of this public document were printed at a cost of $5,417.68, or $2.167 per copy.
is publication was supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the federal
Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
North Carolina’s
Cultural Resources
a Survey and Report
2010

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North Carolina’s
Cultural Resources
a survey and report
All of north carolina’s
cultural institutions
work together to make
the state’s unique cultural
and historical resources
accessible for the
education and enjoyment
of people of all ages
in the state, the nation,
and the world.
2010
T
Institutions
By the time the survey was fi nished, NC ECHO had identifi ed over 950 cultural heritage
institutions and obtained completed surveys from 761 of them, including archives, library special
collections, art museums and art councils, historic house museums, history museums, state
historic sites, and state parks with cultural heritage collections.
NC ECHO partner institutions may vary in type, size, budget, and location, but they are united
in their mission to protect the artifacts and documents that tell the story of our state’s heritage
while allowing users access to the collections.
he NC ECHO needs assessment
survey gathered information from
any institution in the state that fi t
the following description:
Any cultural institution (library,
archive, museum, historic site, or
organization) that maintains a
permanent, non-living collection of
unique materials held for research
and/or exhibit purposes and is open
to the public.
Institutions in North Carolina
Library Special Collections
Archives
State Parks
State Historic Sites
Museums
236
31
10
26
458
Institutions per county in North Carolina
Mountain 155
Piedmont 434
Coastal Plain 172
NC ECHO surveyed 26 state historic
sites like Fort Dobbs State Historic
Site in Statesville, Iredell County
(pictured left). Ft. Dobbs is the
only North Carolina state historic
site associated with the French and
Indian War and the only one located
along the offi cial colonial frontier.
Private library special collections
often hold materials relating to
special topics such as the Bernice
Bienenstock Furniture Library in
High Point, Guilford County (pictured
left), which is a world-renowned
research center for the study of
furniture history and design.
There are 31 archives in North Carolina including the Moravian Archives in Winston-Salem
(pictured above). This archive, started in 1753, is the oldest institution surveyed by NC
ECHO and in fact is one of the oldest archives in the country. It houses more than a million
pages of handwritten manuscripts documenting the history of the Moravian community.
(Photo courtesy of the Moravian Archives).
Nearly every county has at least one public library special collection, usually focusing on local history and genealogy. Watauga County
Public Library in Boone (pictured below left) has the Austin E. South Genealogy Collection with vertical fi les, clipping fi les, published
material, microfi lm, and other sources useful in the study of local history and genealogy in Watauga County and the surrounding region.
Other library special collections are found in academic institutions like Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, Gaston County. Pictured below
right is Donald Beagle, director of the Abbot Vincent Taylor Library, holding a text from the college’s rare book collection.
Ten parks in the State Parks System house cultural heritage collections. Fort Macon State Park in Atlantic Beach, Carteret County, interprets
and preserves the history of the fort structure and its military role from the pre-Civil War era through World War II (pictured above).
Institutions
60%of institutions identified in the NC
ECHO survey are museums. These
institutions care for and make available to
the public more than 13 million artifacts.
104 museums in North Carolina are historic house
museums like the Barker House maintained by the Edenton
Historical Commission in Chowan County (pictured left).
In fact, several of these museums are historic parks with
multiple historic structures like the Denton Farm Park
in Davidson County, a 140-acre park that preserves the
Richmond Reid Plantation House, the Jackson Hill Store
and Post Office, the Jackson Hill Church, and the George E.
Sperling Grist Mill (pictured above).
Museum types
Art Museums and
Arts Councils
Historic House Museums
History Museums
Science Museums
Children’s Museums
68
104
235
43
8
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 5
There are 68 art museums and arts councils
in the state like the North Carolina Pottery
Center in Seagrove, Randolph County
(pictured top left), which promotes public
awareness and appreciation of the history,
heritage, and ongoing tradition of pottery-making
in North Carolina through educational
programs, public services, collection, and
preservation.
The North Carolina Estuarium located along
the Pamlico River in Washington, Beaufort
County (pictured center left), promotes
stewardship in the Albemarle-Pamlico region
through environmental education and nature-based
cultural tourism. This science museum
explores the signifi cance of the estuary
through interactive exhibits including native
living creatures, environmental artworks,
creative audio-visual components, historic
artifacts, K-12 educational programs, games,
and activities, and river excursions aboard the
Estuarium’s pontoon boat.
Few children’s museums maintain permanent
collections of historic artifacts. The
Greensboro Children’s Museum in Guilford
County (pictured bottom left) has special
collections including a model train collection,
Native American artifacts, a stamp collection,
and an assortment of vehicles, including fi re
engines and a NASCAR stock car.
The majority of museums in the state
(51.3%) are history museums. An
abundance of museums exists. Many preserve
and interpret local history. They range from
larger professional museums like the Greensboro
Historical Museum in Guilford County (pictured
below) to smaller volunteer-run institutions like
the Faison Historical Museum in Duplin County
(pictured left).
Institutions
Numerous institutions in North Carolina are dedicated to preserving specifi c
aspects of the state’s cultural heritage, and many museums house amazing
collections that are simply unique and interesting or that serve to document
or elucidate a collector’s particular interest or avocation.
The Cooleemee Textile Heritage Center in Davie County (pictured above) interprets the history of North Carolina’s cotton
mill culture.
The Chicamacomico Lifesaving
Station Historic Site and Museum in
Rodanthe, Dare County, preserves
the history of the fi rst United States
Life-Saving Service station in North
Carolina.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 7
The Greater Fair Bluff Historical Society Depot Museum
in Columbus County is located in the restored 1897 ACL
passenger and freight depot and preserves the history
of the town of Fair Bluff (pictured top left).
The Camden County Jail House Museum in Camden
is located in the restored 1910 Camden County jail
(pictured top right).
The Caswell No. 1 Fire Station Museum in Kinston, Lenoir
County, displays over a hundred years of fi re-fi ghting
artifacts including a 1922 American LaFrance pumper engine.
Wilderness Taxidermy and Outfi tters Museum in Franklin, Macon County, has a taxidermy exhibit and wildlife art
gallery where visitors can view unique specimens from around the world.
During the survey, NC ECHO found 14 jailhouse
museums, 5 taxidermy museums, 11 fi re station
museums, and over 30 depot museums as well as
many other unique and interesting institutions
like the Tuba Exchange in Durham (pictured left).
Antiquities Vending Soda Machine Museum in
Granite Falls, Caldwell County, displays over 1,000
fully restored soda machines (pictured lower left).
Belhaven Memorial Museum in Beaufort County
was started with a collection of 30,000 of “Miss
Eva’s” buttons (pictured below) and includes
artifacts such as Depression Era canned possum
preserves and a fl ea circus.
Institutions
Institutions within the
state are of varied types
including public and
private institutions,
those run by government
or by corporations,
denominational institutions
and academic ones, those
administered by societies,
and those incorporated
into larger parent
institutions that do not
focus on cultural heritage.
Whatever their origin or
administrative structure,
these institutions care for
the state’s historical record.
Bennett Classics Antique Auto Museum in Forest City, Rutherford County, is a private institution started from the personal
antique car collection of brothers Buddy and Joe Bennett.
Tuttle Educational State Forest in Lenoir,
Caldwell County, is a government-run
institution that is designed to teach the
public about the forest environment.
Forest rangers conduct classes and guide
tours especially created for schoolchildren,
who learn about soil, water, wildlife,
timber, and forest management.
The North Carolina State Capitol in
Raleigh is an example of a public
institution. Administered by North
Carolina State Historic Sites, the
Capitol is owned by the people and
is open to all.
Duke Energy Archive in Charlotte preserves the corporate
records of Duke Energy Corporation. The collection includes
many artifacts illustrating the evolution of electrifi cation in
Charlotte and Piedmont North Carolina. As is the case with
many corporate institutions, the archive is open to public
researchers by approved appointment only.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 9
The staff of NC ECHO endeavored
to survey every archives, museum,
library, and historic site in the state—
their collections, their missions, their
challenges—and we got to know
the people behind the institutions
and to understand their inspirations
and aspirations, their hopes and
dreams. Staff have had the pleasure
of meeting myriad individuals whose
passion is preserving and sharing the
story of our state. What an amazing
discovery to learn that so many
people care about history, art, and
science and have worked with loving
hearts and tireless hands to support
and nurture nearly a thousand
organizations dedicated to North
Carolina’s heritage.
Several institutions are denominational and are administered by religious
organizations. The Bhaktivedanta Archives in Sandy Ridge, Stokes
County, is the offi cial repository for the documents,
manuscripts, correspondence, audio recordings,
photographs, fi lms, and other memorabilia of His
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
founder-acarya of the International Society for
Krishna Consciousness.
The Jugtown Pottery Museum in Seagrove, Moore County, is an example of an institution
administered by a parent organization that does not focus on cultural heritage. Jugtown Pottery is
a studio owned by artists Vernon and Pam Owens, who craft pottery for sale in the retail shop. They
created this museum on their property to honor the Jugtown tradition of potters and exhibit a large
collection of original Jugtown pieces.
Historical, genealogical, and preservation societies run
many of the state’s cultural heritage institutions. The
Wayne County Museum in Goldsboro is administered by
the Wayne County Historical Association. Organized in
1955, the Association procured a former U.S.O. building
to house exhibits illustrating the history of Wayne County
and central eastern North Carolina.
Almost all of North Carolina’s academic institutions
have a special collection or university archive. The
Special Collections Research Center at North Carolina
State University in Raleigh holds research and primary
resource materials that focus on areas in which NC State
has made a marked contribution to the development
of the fi eld, such as in plant and forestry genetics and
genomics.
Collections
The Museum of American Cut and Engraved Glass in Highlands, Macon
County, has an accession policy that focuses the museum’s collecting. The
museum exhibits cut and engraved glass primarily from the American
Brilliant Period, 1876-1916.
W hether they
are large or small, ancient
or contemporary, artifacts,
documents, photographs,
audio-visual materials, or historic
structures, the state’s collections
are diverse and interesting. These
collections not only preserve
and document North Carolina’s
material culture but also educate,
enlighten, and even entertain.
The collections tell stories about
North Carolina’s history and culture
and just as frequently reveal the
diversity of its people, regions, and
contemporary culture.
Written acquisition policy
56.3% of institutions indicated
that they have no written acquisition
or collection development policy
that identifies the kinds of materials
the institution accepts and the
conditions or terms that affect these
acquisitions. Several institutions
qualified their responses by stating
that a policy was in progress, the
policy was not written but the
parameters were known, a policy
existed for the parent body but not
for the department, the current policy
was in need of revision, or that the
institution was not actively collecting.
No Acquisition
Policy
56.3%
Acquisition
Policy
43.7%
The Brady C. Jefcoat Museum of Americana in Murfreesboro,
Hertford County, is an institution where the collections are
eclectic and varied but still focused. This museum houses
thousands of items--from phonographs to historic toilets
to washing machines, including one run by a dog-powered
treadmill. Even though the items are diverse, they can all
be classified as supporting the museum’s goal of collecting
Americana artifacts.
Number of institutions holding
types of media
80.0% Paper records
78.4% Photographs
64.4% Artifacts
57.3% Art objects
50.8% Maps
45.3% Videotapes
36.6% Sound recordings
33.1% Architectural drawings
29.0%
26.5%
Micro lm and micro che
Computer media
18.0% Motion picture lm
15.0% Other
57.3% of institutions have art objects in
their collections. These corn husk dolls are part
of the collection at the Museum of North Carolina
Handicrafts in the historic Shelton House in
Waynesville, Haywood County.
36.6% of institutions hold sound recordings in their collections. This collection of instantaneous
discs in the archives at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte documents the Biddle University Quintet,
an a cappella singing group made up of students from this HBCU. The Quartet toured and sang from 1908
to 1926. The songs on these fragile discs have recently been digitized.
Although only 35% of institutions are archives
and library special collections, 80.0% of all
institutions hold paper records. The Charlotte
Museum of History & Hezekiah Alexander Homesite
in Mecklenburg County has a large archival collection
pertaining not only to Hezekiah Alexander and
family but also to the history of the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg area in general.
78.4% of
institutions have
photographs in their
collections, and 61.2% consider photographs one of
their collection strengths. This scrapbook from the
Burgaw Municipal Project includes photographs of the
electrifi cation of Burgaw and is part of the local history
collection at the Pender County Public Library in Burgaw.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 11
Collections
There are 7 million photographs in
North Carolina institutions. This
photograph of the North Carolina
Mutual Glee Club from 1928 is part
of the North Carolina Mutual Life
Insurance Company’s corporate
archives located in Durham. NCM
is the oldest and largest African
American life insurance company
in the United States.
Collections around the
state vary in size from a
handful of artifacts held
in a small public library
to collections that are
the largest of their type
in the world. No matter
the size or scope, each
collection adds to the
state’s rich and diverse
cultural heritage.
200,688,946 linear feet of archival
and special collections material
The North Carolina School of
the Arts Moving Image Archive
in Winston-Salem is the third
largest non-commercial fi lm
archive in the country, with an
extensive collection of feature
fi lms, live action and animated
short fi lms, documentaries,
movie trailers, and newsreels.
The National
Climatic Data
Center in Asheville
is the world’s
largest active
archive of weather data. With fi les dating from the
1700s to the present day, the archive houses 200
million linear feet of records.
Number of artifacts and art objects
11,295,396 Archaeological
512,100 Botanical
361,934 Communication artifacts
40,380 Costumes and textiles
39,074 Decorative arts
28,053 Distribution and
transportation artifacts
72,237 Furnishings
27,330 Geological
11,342 Paintings
5,068 Paleontological
57,645 Personal artifacts
51,296 Prints, drawings, and
graphic arts
7,167 Recreational artifacts
3,357 Sculpture
631 Structures
41,128 Tools and equipment for
communication
51,731 Tools and equipment for
materials
26,300 Tools and equipment for
science and technology
1,221,959 Zoological
13,854,128 TOTAL artifacts and art
objects
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 13
Artifacts range in size from very large items like this Grumman QV-1 Mohawk
airplane from the collection of the Carolinas Aviation Commission and Mu-seum
in Charlotte to the extremely small like this collection of sample of sand
(right) from around the world found at the Wilmington Children’s Museum in
New Hanover County.
There are over 11 million
archaeological objects in the
state’s collections. The majority
of those are found at the Offi ce of
State Archaeology, Archaeological
Research Center in Raleigh. These
artifacts and specimens are
procured from digs all over the
state.
35.7% of institutions have costumes
and textiles in their collections with
more than forty thousand of these
artifacts statewide. These examples of
Quaker clothing are on display at the
Museum of Old Domestic Life located
in 1858 Quaker Meeting House in High
Point, Guilford County.
Collections
e diversity of North Carolina’s people and
history is re ected in the wide variety of collection
strengths found in its cultural heritage institutions.
Collections revolve around topics from the
seemingly obvious to the obscure and almost
everything in between.
68.5% of institutions have a subject strength of local history in archival collections and
35.7% have a strength in genealogy. Historical documents in the Mary Hadley Connor
Leath Local History Room of the Thomas H. Leath Memorial Library in Rockingham, Richmond
County, include a 1799 deed signed by Henry William Harrington, an early Richmond County
land grant recipient, and John Paisley Cameron’s license to practice law.
African American history is a subject
strength for archival collections at
16.5% of institutions. The North
Carolina A&T University Archives in
Greensboro, Guilford County, has a
large Sit-In Collection documenting the
students’ participation in the Civil Rights
Movement in Greensboro.
Subject strengths of archival collections:
16.5% African Americans
19.9% Agriculture
20.8% Arts and architecture
18.5% Business, industry, and
manufacturing
21.3% Civil War
30.2% Education
13.2% Environmental a airs
and natural resources
35.7% Genealogy
5.9% Labor
68.5% Local history
11.4% Medicine and health care
16.3% Military
13.2% Native Americans
13.7% Politics, government,
and law
16.8% Religion
9.7% Science and technology
13.9% Transportation and
communication
13.9% Women
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 15
Subject strengths of artifact and art
collections
15.7% Archaeological
9.8% Ethnographical
18.8% Folk culture
10.5% Audio-visual
35.7% Costumes and textiles
25.4% Decorative arts
35.2% Paintings
61.2% Photographs
29.6% Prints, drawings and
graphic arts
14.7% Sculpture
18.8% Communication artifacts
20.8% Distribution and
transportation artifacts
41.4% Furnishings
18.2% Recreational artifacts
43.2% Structures
42.0% Tools and equipment for
materials
25.9% Tools and equipment for
science and technology
10.4% Botanical
8.6% Geological
5.4% Paleontological
11.9% Zoological
41.4% of institutions listed furnishings as a subject strength for their col-lections.
This photograph from the President James K. Polk State Historic Site in
Pineville, Mecklenburg County, shows how the cabin would have been outfi tted
at the time of Polk’s birth c. 1845.
Distribution and transportation artifacts
are a subject strength for 20.8% of
institutions. The C. Grier Beam Truck
Museum in Cherryville, Gaston County,
preserves the history of the trucking
industry and particularly the Carolina
Freight Carriers Corporation, begun in
1932. The photograph shows the fi rst
truck owned by company founder C. Grier
Beam.
For 43.2% of institutions, a historic structure is part of the collection. This
can be an institution that is housed in a historic building like the Chatham
Historical Museum located in the Chatham County
Courthouse in Pittsboro or a historic site with
ancillary structures like this 1850 slave house at the
Historic Stagville State Historic Site in Durham.
Collections
What is the
predominant
date range
of your
institution’s
collection?
“ “
1.3%
1.0%
2.7%
16.4%
13.0%
65.7%
Prehistoric
Pre-Columbian
1500-1800
19th century
20th century
19-20th century
Number of institutions with photographs by date
Institutions holding
photos by date
370
83
237
Institutions with >50%
of photo collection in
date range
168
397
48
Institutions with 100%
of photo collection in
date range
5
249
7 2 20
74
Before 1870
1870-1910
1910-1950
After 1950
Most photographs post-date1950. This photograph of
three Eagle Scouts from Pitt County was taken in 1962
and is part of the Daily Refl ector Image Collection at East
Carolina University in Greenville. (Image courtesy of ECU,
Daily Refl ector Negative Collection, 741.27.b.34)
Collections around the state range from the very old like this petrifi ed log
from Indonesia at the Mineral and Lapidary Museum of Henderson County in
Hendersonville to much more current items like this pair of shoes belonging
to beloved North Carolina State University basketball coach Jim Valvano in the
collection of the Scotland County Historic Properties Commission in Laurinburg.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 17
The Museum of the Alphabet in Waxhaw, Union County, traces the
history of alphabets and other writing systems from ancient times to
the present. Museum displays chronicle ancient and modern alphabet
makers and feature the history and evolution of written language,
including Greek, Roman, Hebrew, Arabic, and Asian alphabets.
The Penderlea Homestead
Museum in Penderlea,
Pender County, interprets a
restored Depression Era New
Deal subsistence homestead
community. The museum
collects only artifacts within
the narrow time range of the
mid 1930s.
The majority of collections in the state
represent the 19th and 20th centuries. These
spinning and weaving artifacts from the early
19th century are interpreted at the Historic
Carson House in Old Fort, McDowell County.
Collections at the Museum of the
Cherokee Indian in Cherokee,
Swain County, relate the story
of the Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians and range from the pre-historic
to the contemporary.
School groups are an important part of museum and historic site visitation. (Students enjoying an exhibit
at the Hickory Museum of Art, Catawba County).
13,545,926
Annual visitors
& researchers
North Carolina’s citizens make use of their cultural heritage. 97.8% of institutions report that the majority
of their visitors are from within the state. (Visitors to the Mountain Farm Museum in Cherokee, Swain County).
Access to collections
North Carolina’s institutions collect
and care for records and objects
not only to preserve them, but
also so that they may be used and
enjoyed. Annually, over 13 million
people benefit from the activities
of North Carolina’s cultural
heritage institutions. These users
come as tourists seeking local
history and culture, as scholarly
researchers delving into primary
source materials, as genealogists
tracing family lines, as students
experiencing school field trips,
as employees facilitating
institutional operations, or simply
as enthusiasts for the materials
that these institutions preserve.
“
“
Comments from survey
respondents regarding use
of collections How are the collections used?
Genealogy
Local history
Scholarly research publications
Undergraduate classwork
Elementary/high school projects
Property/legal research
Publicity campaigns
Administrative/institutional support
Education/interpretation
Aesthetic appreciation
Other
38.1%
58.3%
31.0%
25.4%
31.0%
9.8%
16.0%
16.0%
44.5%
33.9%
6.7%
Schoolchildren
1,040,418
Correspondence Researchers
210,984
In-Person Researchers
434,287 Exhibit Viewers
11,860,237
• Attendance has dropped because
schools have fewer fi elds trips
• 10,000 visitors at festival in three days
and 1,500 throughout the year
• 3rd most-popular way that people hear
about this site is the road signs!!!
• 4th graders used to do NC notebooks
but not so much anymore
• 50% school groups
• 50,000 visitors came in the museum;
885,000 visitors came to the park
• All of our eff orts are for education/
interpretation and other by-products
such as providing resources for research
• Almost all use relates to genealogical
research
• Because our collections are largely
uncataloged, we do not receive
much use
• Hours have been cut; closed on
weekends for two years
• In summer 26-50% come from outside
NC; winter 11-25%
• Increase in use since digitization project
has been up
• Museum open for two festivals per
year only
• Ongoing debate over entertainment
vs. education
• Patrons need better access to these
materials; electronic format with
keyword searching would be
invaluable
• It is diffi cult to work with schools
and hard to arrange fi eld trips to
the museum
• Required 8th-grade fi eld trip for the
county
• Very infrequent public use of archives
due to limited scope of collection and
requirement that research be scholarly
and original
• Visitation is down because educator is
gone; hope visitation will go up so we
can hire a new educator
• Visitation will increase dramatically
since we have recently opened regular
hours and have a permanent home
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 19
Providing access to collections is possible through the
maintenance of intellectual control and by employing
discovery mechanisms that make it possible to locate the
items and information about them.
97.1% of institutions have some degree of intellectual
control over at least a portion of their collections.
However, NC ECHO observed, and many institutions
expressed, that very few have discovery mechanisms in place for their
entire collections and that processing backlogs prevent them from
making all of their materials accessible.
The lack of fi nding aids, catalogs and other access tools is the largest
impediment to use of the state’s collections. NC ECHO staff visited a
library special collection where the librarian could not locate a 16th-century
manuscript from the rare book collection. This was probably
due to misfi ling, but no one could be sure since there are no fi nding
aids, shelf lists, or inventories of the rare book holdings.
Access To Collections
of institutions have some degree of 97.1% Nearly all institutions have some intellectual control
over their collections. This control ranges from
rudimentary handwritten inventories and shelf lists to
old-style card catalogs to fully automated collections
management systems and online fi nding aids.
Impediments to the use of collections
15.4%
10.9%
4.1%
Can’t physically locate
Lack of nding aids
Necessary equipment not available
Records deteriorated beyond use
Processing backlogs
37.2%
36.3%
Discovery mechanisms used by institutions
29.4%
37.9%
9.3%
42.9%
50.7%
28.8%
Card catalog
Collection inventory
Typewritten register
Printed guide
Online public access catalog
Website
of intellectual control over at least a portion of their collections.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 21
Nursing collection
Waldensian story
Furniture manufacturing collection
Traditional African art
Family histories
Sit-ins
Siamese twins collection
College catalogs/yearbooks
Dolls
Military costumes
Gourds
Government statutes
Historic railroad equipment
Institutional archives
Quaker meeting records
Rocks and minerals
Shipwreck fi les
Masks
Turtle stuff
Diorama, beehive
Fred the fi re horse
Jars, buttons, fl eas, farm implements
Oz theme-park collection
Access To Collections
A false bottom wagon used by Quakers at Mendenhall Plantation in Guilford County to transport escaping slaves
on the Underground Railroad.
Which of your speci c collections
15 get the most use? 15 institutions reported no written catalog of
records/objects and that the institution relied
solely on sta memory to locate collections.
While this is a tiny portion of all the institutions surveyed,
it is still troubling since these collections are at risk of
being misplaced or becoming unidentifi able after current
staff leave. During one of NC ECHO’s earliest site visits,
staff asked the local history volunteer how items in the collection were organized and cataloged.
She responded, “I’ve got it all in my head”.
“
“
Florence Nightingale letters
1901 coin-operated electricity meter
Fire truck
False-bottom wagon
Parisian living room wallpaper
Barber chair
Race car
Snow globes
Iron lung
Soda machines
Corn sheller
Saddam Hussein’s gold weapons
Grist mill
Environmental justice collection
Rock house
Oral histories
Arial/topographic maps
Motion pictures
Decline of black farming collection
Digitized info on web
Newspapers
Cherokee river cane baskets
Cotton and textile exhibit
Highland games collection
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 23
Through a partnership between the North Carolina
State Archives, the Outer Banks History Center, and the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, over 1,500
historic North Carolina maps are being digitized. This
project will allow users to interact with the maps in new
ways in the online environment.
Th e growth of the internet has brought
increased expectations for online access
to collections. While viewing materials
online does not replace seeing them
in person, digitization is becoming an
important tool for cultural heritage
institutions interested in serving a wider
audience.
North Carolina’s cultural institutions
have produced many strong individual
digitization projects, and some institutions
have successfully integrated digital
programs into their missions and budgets.
Survey fi ndings, however, reveal that the
majority of North Carolina’s institutions
have not yet undertaken digitization
projects. No more than 26.0% of
institutions responded to the digitization-related
questions of the survey, suggesting
that three-fourths of all institutions are not
active in digitization.
In-house digitization 90.5%
Outsourced digitization 9.5%
Documentation of digitization eff orts?
Yes 45.9% No 54.1%
Maintain separate digital master fi les and access fi les?
Yes 56.4% No 43.6%
Do the digital fi les follow a standard description
model such as Dublin Core?
Yes 31.9% No 39.9% Don’t know 28.3%
Formats for digital fi le storage
CD-ROM 72.5% Portable drive 14.4%
Hard drive 66.9% Other 25.0%
Meredith College
completed a unique
digitization project that
increased access to over a
hundred years of Meredith
history through 360-
degree-rotation digital
camera capture of the
beloved class dolls.
N
Staff and volunteers
Helen Wykle is the special collections librarian at the University of North Carolina
Asheville’s D. H. Ramsey Library. The Special Collections and University Archives is only one
department in the large academic library. This is the case for several institutions where
care of cultural heritage collections is not the main mission of the parent institution.
e NC ECHO survey identi ed some institutions
with full professional sta s, but found many more
organizations run by a single paid sta member.
Sometimes that sta member is assisted by
volunteers, but, especially in archives and library
special collections, he or she may operate without
any help. For local history museums and archives,
the survey found that sta often consists solely of
volunteers. Regardless of their status, these cultural
caretakers look after the state’s collections and
create environments where visitors and researchers
can enjoy and appreciate the history and culture of
North Carolina.
orth Carolina’s cultural heritage
institutions would not exist were it
not for the eff ort and dedication of
more than 15,000 people who serve
the state’s institutions as paid career
professionals and support staff ,
volunteers, student workers, interns,
and in other capacities.
Appraisal, collection development 48.0%
Electronic records management 32.2%
Curatorial methods 50.7%
Disaster preparedness 50.9%
Public relations, outreach 47.2%
Copyright 35.6%
Programming 37.2%
Other 5.9%
Exhibit creation 46.1%
Database management 51.3%
Digital imaging 57.2%
Fundraising, grant writing 63.1%
Archival methods 63.5%
Bill Brown, Safety Director at Broughton Hospital in Morganton, Burke Preservation, conservation methods 67.4%
County, is a third-generation employee of the state psychiatric facility. Bill is
concerned that the history of this organization will be lost. Although not part
of his offi cial responsibilities, Bill rescues items like this patient wheelchair
from state surplus and creates exhibits in the
administration building lobby in an eff ort to
preserve the history of the hospital.
Becky Gri n is the part-time Executive Director of
the Mint Hill Historical Society’s Carl J. McEwen Historical
Village in Mecklenburg County. She and her volunteer staff
have worked to preserve the rural history of the town of
Mint Hill through
restoring several
buildings including
a country doctor’s
offi ce, country store,
and schoolhouse.
Areas of training needed for sta and volunteers
3,206.12 Full time equivalent workers in
North Carolina’s institutions
Student Workers
5.1% Interns
2.9%
Paid Non-Professionals/
Support Staff
15.5%
Other
1.1%
Volunteers
40.8%
Paid
Professionals
34.6%
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 25
47 Processing collections
36 Archivist
36 Cataloger
36 Education or outreach
35 Curator
31 Administrative or o ce
manager
24 Jack-of-all-trades
22 Clerical work or secretary
19 Collection management
18 Librarian
16 Conservation or
preservation
16 Digitization
16 Fundraising
15 Custodial or maintenance
13 Public relations or
marketing
11 Tour guide
10 Website management or IT
9 Registrar
7 No help needed
7 Volunteer coordinator
6 Database management
5 Grant writing
2 Reference
2 Security
Staff and Volunteers
Almost all institutions indicated a need for increased sta
or volunteers. In many institutions, one person undertakes
multiple responsibilities. When asked what primary duty
would be assigned to a new sta member, one institution
responded, “We don’t have enough sta to assign anyone
a primary duty.” Yet being short-sta ed does not stop
institutions from branching out to reach their audiences.
As Sharon Snow of Wake Forest University’s Special
Collections told NC ECHO on a site visit,
“We’ve got our ngers in a lot of pies, but it’s good pie.”
Many volunteer-run museums and archives expressed concern that volunteers are mostly
retirees. One institution told NC ECHO that the most needed addition to the museum was
“a younger person to learn the collection.” (Ms. Sarah Grissop volunteers her time at the
Brevard Station Museum in Gaston County.)
Administrative or
office manager
Archivist C A T A L O G E R
Clerical work or
secretary
COLLECTION
MANAGEMENT
Conser vation
or preservation
Curator
Custodial or maintenance
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
DIGITIZATION
Education or outreach
Fundraising
Grant
writing
Librarian
Processing collections
Public relations
or marketing
Tour
guide
Reference
Website management or IT
VOLUNTEER
COORDINATOR
Security
NO HE L P N E E D E D
J a c k - o f - a l l t r a d e s
“If you could add
one employee,
what would be
that person’s
primary duty or
responsibility?”
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 27
Paid Professional Sta
(full-time-equivalents)
15.2%
41.3%
13.2%
35.8%
Zero
Less than one
More than one
More than four
State Historic Sites
502
State Parks
1081
Library Special
Collections
1,892
Archives
217
15,681 employees
and volunteers in
North Carolina’s cultural
heritage institutions
Museums
11,999
Volunteers are essential
to the workforce of many
institutions, and in fact,
25.7% of institutions have
no professional employees and
are staff ed solely by volunteers.
(Carl Moore is a volunteer at the
Old County Jail Museum in Clay
County).
13.2% of institutions employ more than four full-time-equivalent paid
professional staff . Staff in the Mammals Unit of the Research and Collections
Section of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences includes curator Lisa
Gartens, collection technician Levi Vargas, and collection manager Benjamin Hess.
Photo: Steve Exum.
Collections care
T he NC ECHO survey shows that
the majority of holdings within
North Carolina’s cultural heritage
institutions are in good physical
condition. North Carolina is
fortunate that this is the case,
because relatively few of North
Carolina’s institutions have the
tools and facilities at their disposal
to ensure collection longevity. To
keep materials from deteriorating,
institutions must be able to
properly monitor and control
collection storage environments
and plan ahead for disasters both
natural and manmade.
The collections in the best condition are those
stored and exhibited in proper housing containers in
environmentally controlled spaces. UNC Charlotte’s
University Archives (pictured above) uses acid­free
folders
in archival boxes along with temperature and humidity
controls to prevent deterioration of the documents. The
Southern Highland Craft Guild in Asheville (pictured
below) stores the handmade crafts collections in museum
storage drawers with While most institutions report that their collections are generally microfoam lining.
in good condition, almost all institutions have some items in
their collections that are in need of conservation. This is
due both to a lack of funding for preservation
and to a lack of expertise, particularly in the smaller
and volunteer­run
institutions.
Archival materials
General condition of collections
Objects
Good
Photographs
Good Fair Poor
0.8%
80.6%
18.6%
Good Fair Poor
0.6%
76.0%
23.4%
Fair Poor
1.1%
79.1%
19.9%
No Trained
Conservator
86.4%
Trained
Conservator
13.6%
Are you speci cally
concerned with any portion
of your collection?
“
“
• Two staff conservators specialize in textiles
and costumes and work on the collection
• The museum is emerging from an all­volunteer
staff to a paid professional staff ,
and in that process, the collections are
improving as are the conditions in which
they are stored and exhibited
• The North Carolina Museum of Art conducted
a survey of the portrait collection and did
on­site
conservation
• Some archival materials are in poor shape
and are housed in non­archival
boxes
• Materials are often kept in the condition in
which they are received
• Collections were restored and stabilized after
the fl ood
• Most objects in our collection were damaged
in a fi re in 1998. 800 items were in the
collection and 200 were destroyed.
Remaining items have been professionally
restored and returned to the collection
• Some heat lamination of documents
• The photographs in the collection need acid
free folders or Mylar sleeves
• The books are brittle with some spines torn
and broken but intact
• Collections worn but generally in good
condition
• Condition is a consideration for acquisition
• Do not have budget, knowledge, or time to
provide professional long­term
preservation
• Collections vary in condition, and
the museum has conducted a general
preservation survey to establish
conservation priorities
• Textile and fabric collection is in stages
of decay
• Recent addition of a heat and air system will
help stabilize condition of collections and
stop deterioration of exhibits
•Some items are hard to identify because of
their condition
• Most objects given to us come from local
families who have kept them in good
condition. A dry building and loving
attention keeps them that way
• Some exhibited documents and archival
items are yellowing due to light exposure
• Some stuff is becoming moldy as
environmental controls are lacking
• Have had fl ooding from the hurricanes and
have had to move collections twice
• Condition is better than expected given lack
of basic preservation over the years
A small percentage (13.6%) of institutions are able to retain a professionally trained conservator on
staff like this textiles conservator at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh. Yet even without
an in­house
conservator, more than a fourth of institutions undertook some form of preservation
measures in the year before the survey.
*Includes preservation photocopying, encapsulation, facility repairs,
rehousing, reformatting, upgrade to security system, etc.
Conservation and
preservation measures
undertaken in the year
preceeding the survey
25.4%
31.6%
25.1%
33.7%
7.5%
29.6%
Micro lming
Book rebinding
Document conservation
Object conservation
Disaster recovery
Environmental control upgrade
*Other 14.9%
Some institutions, like the Louise Wells
Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington pictured
above left, have resources to properly store
collections. Other institutions deal with less
than ideal conditions.
This archive pictured above right is subject to
water leaks because of its basement location.
This history museum pictured left has to keep
collections in plastic bins to combat poor
environmental conditions in the outbuilding
used for storage.
Collections are often
stored in structures or
housed in containers that
are inadequate. Providing
stable environments for
old or fragile materials
is impossible for some
institutions given their
nancial circumstances and
other inhibiting factors.
59.8% of institutions
consider their storage space
inadequate and 18.5%
consider lack of exhibit
and storage space as the
institution’s most pressing
problem.
1,728,724 total square feet of
storage space at institutions statewide
Q: Where do
institutions store
collections?
Collections Care
A: 42.9% O ce area
35.4% Stack area
48.1% Storage room
9.4% Warehouse
63.6% On exhibit
34.7% Attic, basement,
closet
• Storage space is overcrowded and improperly
arranged. The area is a ected by heat and cold
changes and mold problems
• Need a bigger space for less money
• Facilities are small and cramped
• Most archival material is stored in a private home
right now
• Available facilities are adequate for our
larger exhibits of railroad equipment, cars. and
locomotives but we do lack adequate space for
small items and paper goods
• Environmental monitoring systems are
outdated, and we want to upgrade to a digital
tracking system
“
“
• Main storage has no heat or humidity controls
• None of the historic buildings have
climate controls
• Facility was not designed to be a museum
• Lack of adequate proper storage is a
problem that makes it hard to properly process
and preserve records and virtually impossible
to implement a sound records
management program
• Excellent modern facility
• Most archival materials are stored in the
basement. There is too much moisture, and the
humidi er is of limited help. The basement is
subject to ooding, and mold is growing on
some materials
• All our historic structures have new humidity
and climate controls
• Overloaded shelves. There was no eye to the
future when the room was designed
• There is no space in the current building for
expansion of collections, which remain small
• No smoke detectors!
• Big windows expose exhibit items to lots of
natural light, but replacement windows are
being systematically installed
The survey found 82 institutions like the Northern Wayne Heritage Museum in Wayne County that store
100% of their collections on exhibit due to a lack of storage space. This situation is not ideal since
collections benefi t from rotating into storage where they are, at least theoretically, in a more
protected environment.
Storage space
59.8% of institutions report inadequate storage space
12.7% indicate that storage space is already full and another 29.5% will
reach capacity within one year
20.4% have less than 500 square feet of available storage
75.4% have no o ­site
storage
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 31
Comments about
storage of collections
Collections Care
Some deterioration of collection
materials is inevitable, but loss
can be controlled. While many
institutions have environmental
controls in place for the
collections on exhibit or in the
stacks, these protections do not
always extend to collections
housed in alternative storage
locations such as attics,
basements, outbuildings, and
even bathrooms. Only 7.5%
of institutions have 100% of
their collections protected
with year-round temperature
controls, year-round humidity
controls, re detectors, a re
suppression system, a security
system, air lters, and UV lters.
Alarmingly, 13.7% reported
that none of their collections
are protected with any of these
environmental controls.
Archives Library Special
Collections
Museums State Historic
Sites
No year-round
temperature controls
16.1% 15.4% 29.4% 29.2%
No year-round
humidity controls
45.2% 59.4% 67.8% 70.8%
No re detection 25.8% 26.1% 33.1% 20.8%
No re suppression 83.7% 74.4% 70.6% 75.0%
No security system 25.8% 30.8% 32.6% 41.7%
No air ltration 25.8% 24.4% 35.4% 41.7%
No UV lters 12.9% 24.4% 29.7% 29.2%
Institutions with NO environmental controls
68.4% of institutions have no security systems in place to prevent theft and vandalism
of collections. In response to a series of thefts, the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh
added a video recording security system to monitor areas where collections are used.
Q:
A:
76.0% Year­round
temperature controls
35.6% Year­round
humidity controls
70.2% Fire detection
29.2% Fire suppression
68.4% Security systems
68.7% Air ltration
72.9% UV lters
What percentage
of institutions
surveyed use
the following
environmental
controls to protect
a portion of their
collections?
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 33
Comments about
environmental storage
conditions of collections
“ • Sprinkler system has taken all
the money
• Main storage has no heat or
humidity controls
• Minimal climate controls; systems
in place operate marginally
• Need extermination
• None of historic buildings have
climate controls
• No smoke detectors!
• Problems with leaky air conditioner
in the photo area
• Environmental monitoring systems
are outdated; want to upgrade
to digital tracking system
• Need humidity control; need to
circulate the air
• Fire extinguishers are available, but
there is no fi re suppression system
• All historic structures have humidity
and climate control
• Currently we badly need a year­round
humidity control
• There are a few items in uncontrolled
environments in the historic buildings
• Humidity/temp control is the original
system from 1967
• Storage facility has no heat/humidity
control, no smoke alarm or sprinkler,
and no security system
• House is in a 10­mile
radius of the
Nuclear Plant and is under that
disaster plan
• Grant application is currently under
review to provide more protection
from light
• Big windows expose exhibits to lots
of natural light, and many photos
are at risk, but replacement
windows are presently being installed
More than a fourth of all institutions (29.8%) have no fi re detection system in
place, and 70.8% have no equipment installed for fi re suppression. This situation
can end tragically as it did in 2008 when the Frank T. Williams Railroad Museum at
Tweetsie Railroad Park burned completely, destroying a collection of artifacts of
North Carolina’s beloved singing cowboy, Fred Kirby.
It is imperative to sustain acceptable levels for temperature and humidity in collection
storage environments to maintain the health of the collections. Institutions face
increased diffi culty because collections of varied media types require diff erent
conditions. Nearly a quarter of all institutions (24.0%)
have no year­round
temperature controls, and 64.4%
have no year­round
humidity controls. In environments
where temperature and humidity levels are allowed to
fl uctuate, collections risk outbreaks of mold and mildew.
“
Collections Care
Collections loss is unfortunate
whether it comes from preventable
events, like humidity-related mold
breakouts, or catastrophic events, such
as the ooding in Princeville after
Hurricane Floyd. Both types of loss
can be mitigated when an institution
implements a preservation plan that
includes installation of environmental
controls and a disaster preparedness
and recovery plan.
28.9% of institutions reported some kind
of loss of collections within the last year
No
Disaster Plan
72.2%
Disaster
Plan
Collection loss in the 27.3%
last three years
7.0%
15.9%
10.2%
1.3%
3.3%
Water
Fire
eft
Mis les
Other
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 35
In July 1998, re crews responded to
an early-morning re at the omas
Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site in
Asheville. Sta from the Wolfe House,
along with volunteers from the sta at
the neighboring Biltmore Estate and
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic
Site, arrived at the scene to nd the house
nearly fully engulfed. ese disaster
response workers set up a triage area
behind the house to catalog artifacts
rescued from the re and assess their
condition. e contents of the dining
room and several pieces of furniture in an
upstairs bedroom were destroyed in the
re, and objects throughout the house were
Implementing a disaster preparedness and
recovery plan is a critical but often
neglected step in collection care.
72.7%
of institutions have no
written disaster plan, although
61.8% list disaster plan
development as a priority for the
institution. 7.5% of institutions
responded to a disaster on some
scale during the year before the survey.
damaged by the smoke, water and intense
heat. Later, sta determined that the arson
re had destroyed 30% of the original
structure and 15% of the artifact collection.
Site sta , working with restoration
architects, took this unfortunate incident
and turned it into an opportunity to undo
modernization changes and updates made
to the house and to restore it to the way
it looked in 1916, the year omas Wolfe
left home for college. e house reopened
in May 2004 with new smoke alarms and
a sprinkler system, which hopefully will
prevent another disaster of this kind.
Although the NC State Historic Sites
program did not have formal disaster
plans prior to this re, it did emphasize
the need for such plans. Today, each site
in the system has a formal, site-speci c
Emergency Preparedness, Evacuation,
and Response Plan. In addition, the
division has purchased a trailer and is
out tting it with supplies and equipment
in preparation for future disasters.
From Out of the Ashes
omas Wolfe Memorial Fire Story
Resources
The needs and priorities of the state’s institutions are
diverse, ranging from improved storage conditions like
this compact shelving at the Johnston County Heritage
Center in Smithfi eld, to better
preservation of collections such
as document encapsulation seen
here at the Cape Hatteras National
Seashore in Manteo, Dare County.
Budget over the
last 3 years
Decreased
29.1%
Remained Stable
45.3%
Increased
25.6%
Inadequate funding is a
challenge facing institutions
in every budget range, but
especially for those with the
smallest income. More than a
third of all institutions (35.7%)
operate on a budget of less than
$10,000 and 12.5% get by on a
shoestring of less than $1,000.
Only 17.1% of institutions
receive an annual budget of
more than $250,000. And while
many needs of institutions go
unmet due to funding shortfalls,
sta and volunteers still work
toward their missions of
providing care for and access to
the state’s collections.
Institution
Budget
12.5%
17.9%
11.2%
23.2%
18.2%
17.1%
$0-$1,000
$1,000-$10,000
$10,000-$50,000
$50,000-$100,000
$100,000-$250,000
$250,000+
Most pressing
problems
Insu cient funding/budget 41.5%
Inadequate professional
sta ng 23.8%
Lack of exhibit/storage space 18.5%
Increasing public/
government awareness 10.4%
Aging/inadequate
physical facility 9.8%
Processing backlog 9.7%
Conservation/preservation 7.8%
Not enough volunteer sta ng 5.5%
Security of collection 3.3%
No pressing problem 2.8%
Collection development 2.6%
Digitization 1.4%
Caring for North Carolina’s cultural
heritage collections requires an
ongoing commitment of resources
from institutions. The three most
pressing problems confronting
institutions are inadequacies
in funding, lack of professional
staffi ng, and insuffi cient exhibit
and storage space. In addition
to these issues, institutions
indicated several other priorities
for improvement, such as
encouraging use of collections,
preserving collections, improving
staff training, and developing
disaster plans. Lack of funding
is the biggest obstacle for many
institutions, and increased and
sustained fi nancial support could
help mitigate many of the other
problems as well.
What is the most pressing
problem confronting your
institution?
“
“
• Consistent funding
• Volunteers! Volunteers! Volunteers !
• Temporary location
• Backlog of collections and lack of
staff to catch up
• Space or staffi ng - a toss-up
• Money; continuing decreases
in funding!
• Cataloging the backlog of materials;
environmental controls for
storage areas; fi lm storage
• Aging physical facility, funding, and
capital needs
• Lack of paid staff
• Collection is peripheral to library mission
• Funding to remain open year-round
• Space; better leadership
• Environmental controls
• Taxes
• Getting schoolchildren to visit
• What will happen to the collection when
Ruthie can no longer oversee it!
• Chronic reduction of funding; lack of local
governmental support
• Clarifying the mission; putting more
emphasis on education and interpretation
• Collection development
• Funding long-term; making the museum
self-perpetuating; publicity
• Electronic records; born digital documents
• Need for publicity; more exposure
• Appealing to the next generation of
volunteers and supporters while getting
children interested
• Handicap accessibility and safety concerns
• Low visitation
• Lack of expertise
• Making it secure and accessible—rare
items are so secure they are not accessible
• Need new building
• Preservation of collection
• Lack of funding from State budget; lots of
turnover because of low salaries.
• The number of active volunteers continues
to get smaller over time
• Just too much work; need time to do
everything.
• Money, but really cataloging backlog!
• Having enough core personnel to
accomplish the work that needs to
be done
Budget expectations
in the next 3 years
Decreased
16%
Remained Stable
49.1%
Increased
35%
92.1% of institutions indicated
a priority to increase funding, with
41.5% listing inadequate funding as
the institution’s most pressing problem.
Needs and
priorities
Increase funding 92.1%
Raise awareness and
use of collections 81.3%
Boost sta­ training 81.1%
Preservation of collections 79.5%
Increase storage capacity 75.8%
Improve storage conditions 71.5%
Improve nding aids 71.5%
Develop disaster plan 61.2%
Increase solicitation of collections 59.3%
Increase exhibit space 56.6%
Process backlog 55.4%
Automate description systems 54.2%
Reformat collection 48.5%
Develop acquisitions policy 45.1%
Develop policies for new media 40.4%
• Scrambling for funds
• We cannot continue to operate entirely on
membership funds. We need a new computer
and digitizing system, archival supplies, a
security system—and those are just the
top priorities
• Admissions all go to child abuse prevention
charity
• Endowment covers all necessary costs
• No line item for special collections; anything
for special collections is purchased from
‘supply line’
• [Corporation] provides all funding
Resources
Funding sources for institutions
54.1% Receive private donations
51.4% Receive regular government
appropriations
28.8% Undertake fundraising activities
25.3% Collect membership dues
20.6% Receive government grants
20.4% Receive private grants
17.3% Receive private endowments
17.1% Charge admission fees
What are some observations
regarding funding?
“
“
• It’s hard to plan when you never know what
your share of the budget is
• [Museum founder] pays for everything
• Find funding by any means necessary
• Initial money came from city, county, and
individuals; continuation budget will be
reliant on individual donations
• No budget
• Need more grants. Exhibit and sta salary
monies are needed. Town, county, and
tourism grants are 99% of the museum’s
operating budget
• Our big givers have died and are not being
replaced; we are considering our cash assets
as ‘endowments’ and use interest only
when needed
Very few institutions
receive all their
funding from a single
source, instead nding
multiple ways to raise
nancial support. e
two most prevalent
means of funding are
private donations and
regular government
appropriations, with a
much larger percentage
of monies coming
from government
appropriations. For most
institutions, less than
25% of their funding
comes from grants,
fundraising, admission
fees, membership dues,
or private endowments.
An increase in support
from these funding
sources would bene t the
institutions.
Funding sources vary with the scope
and mission of the institution. The
North Carolina Baseball Museum in
Wilson gets 75% of its funds from
private donations and 25% from
fundraising. No government monies or
grant monies are used. The museum
Money is essential
to running a
successful cultural
heritage institution,
yet 82.9%
of institutions
do not charge
admission.
Although
these fees are an obvious means of bringing
in money, many institutions prefer to provide
free access to the collections to broaden their
accessibility to the public.
www.ncecho.org/survey/fi nalreport.shtml 39
Only 28.8% of institutions
participate in fundraising
activities. Each May, the Ole
Gilliam Mill Park in Sanford,
Lee County, holds the Old Mill
Crank Up. This fundraising
event includes living history
interpreters, a pottery kiln fi ring,
bluegrass performers, and a
chance to see the grist mill
in action.
Percentage of funding from regular
government appropriation
48.6%
3.6%
5.0%
10.3%
19.4%
13.1%
0%
1-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-88%
89%-99%
Percentage of funding from
private donations
45.9%
8.0%
3.8%
34.5%
4.2%
4.2%
0%
1-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-88%
89%-99%
Percentage of funding from government
and private grants
79.5%
2.6%
0.1%
16.6%
0.1%
0.1%
0%
1-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-88%
89%-99%
board felt that it was important to
raise its own money from the local
community and baseball enthusiasts.
In contrast, there are institutions like
the North Carolina State
Archives in Raleigh, a government-mandated
records repository that
receives 98% of its funding from
regular government appropriations
with the remaining 2% coming from
government grant funding and private
donations and endowments.
2,500 copies of this public document were printed at a cost of $5,417.68, or $2.167 per copy.
is publication was supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the federal
Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.
North Carolina’s
Cultural Resources
a Survey and Report
2010